


The Shifting Sand Beneath Our Feet

by frozensea



Category: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Negotiations, Past Leia Organa/Han Solo, Political Alliances, Pre-Sequel trilogy, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:22:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23862232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frozensea/pseuds/frozensea
Summary: "Is this a bad time?" Leia asked calmly as she pulled a second blaster from under her jacket and offered it to the leader of Crimson Dawn."You couldn't have picked a better one," Qi'ra said before she slammed the door shut.
Relationships: Leia Organa/Qi'ra
Comments: 11
Kudos: 11
Collections: May the 4th Be With You Star Wars Fanworks Exchange 2020





	The Shifting Sand Beneath Our Feet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lucymonster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucymonster/gifts).



Leia paused on the staircase when she heard the sound of blaster fire.

She motioned to Greer who'd already drawn her weapon and was looking at her with an air of tense expectation. At Leia's silent nod, she pressed herself against the wall next to the door.

Leia's hand clenched around her own blaster. Ten minutes ago, she'd been aboard the Mirrorbright hoping that, just for once, things would go smoothly. It would have been a welcome change of pace, but as it had happened so often in her life, things rarely went according to plan.

Standing aside, she counted to three and wrenched the door open just in time to see a cloaked figure running towards her while firing at the two leather-clad thugs behind them.

 _Mercenaries_ , Leia thought when she recognized one of them from the security briefings she used to get when she'd still been a senator.

A shot grazed the cloaked figure, and Leia heard a woman's voice crying out in pain. The woman's blaster fell to the ground. She cradled her arm and ran through the door, cursing colorfully enough that even Leia would have blushed had the situation been less dangerous.

"Is this a bad time?" Leia asked calmly as she pulled a second blaster from under her jacket and offered it to the leader of Crimson Dawn.

"You couldn't have picked a better one," Qi'ra said before she slammed the door shut. Accepting the weapon, she rushed past them. "Follow me," she said as she hurried up the back stairs without waiting to see if they followed.

The stairs led to a balcony at the back of the building which opened up to a veritable maze of catwalks and ladders that connected the upper levels of the city. Market stalls were crammed into windows and the sound of music from the taverns below joined the haggling of the vendors above. Red and yellow lanterns blended into the fading sunlight, and when Leia stepped out onto the crowded walkway, she almost lost sight of Qi'ra, whose dark cloak billowed behind her as she slipped around a corner.

Below them, the door to the hallway crashed open and angry voices spurred them onward.

At the corner, the catwalk turned into a rickety construction that had Leia clutching the railing while the grating below her feet swayed whenever she shifted her weight. The space between the buildings narrowed until no more than one person could pass at a time. Leia gritted her teeth.

It was the perfect place for an ambush.

"General," Greer began, but her voice cut off as Leia sucked in a sharp breath.

She'd reached the end of the bottleneck and what she discovered when she stepped onto another balcony had all thoughts of traps and dangers flying from her mind.

"This is bad," Greer hissed as they watched a Star Destroyer descended to a stationary orbit above the city. "Do you think they're here for us?"

"No. They're here for me," a voice hissed behind them.

Leia whirled around.

There were no lanterns in the bottleneck. And with the sun almost vanished behind the rooftops, the walls were steeped in shadows. From one such shadow, Qi'ra's face emerged. Her cloak parted to reveal Leia's blaster clutched in a white-knuckled grip, but instead of aiming at them she only motioned them over.

Leia exchanged a look with Greer, who shrugged.

 _Right then_ , Leia thought before she strode forward. She'd walked into more dangerous situations than this. And as much as she hated being on the back foot, the need to get out of sight outweighed her reservations about trusting Qi'ra.

There was a door in the wall. It was so low and narrow that even Leia had to duck to fit through it, and Greer nearly had to fold herself in half as her clothes scraped against the rough stonework.

Qi'ra silently slid a pair of bolts into place once Greer had passed her. "Follow me, but speak quietly," she said when Leia made a move to address her. "We're in the walls and the residents don't need to know that we're here."

"Are they aware that this passage exists?" Greer whispered.

"They do, but they have no reason to suspect anyone else has access to it, and I'd like to keep it that way." Qi'ra shouldered her way past them and retrieved a glow stick from a recess in the wall. It bathed the grey bricks in a sickly green light. "This passage leads to the catacombs. From there, we should be able to get safely to the landing docks."

"Thank you for taking us along," Leia said. She'd spent too much time fighting a rebellion not to know the value of hideouts and escape routes, and the fact that Qi'ra had chosen to show them this place when she could have left them behind gave her a sliver of hope that their visit here was not as ill-advised as General Ackbar had believed. "We haven't met before, but I—"

"I know who you are, princess," Qi'ra said with a bemused look. "We share an acquaintance."

Leia hoped that her expression didn't betray the sharp pang she felt at the reference to Han. She hadn't heard from him in weeks, and while neither of them had used the word 'separation' during their last holocall, Leia knew deep down that he would not come back. Not after what had happened to their son.

She didn't blame him. She was far too busy blaming herself.

"I believe he was more than just an acquaintance to both of us," she said wistfully and if Qi'ra picked up on her use of the past tense, she didn't mention it.

Instead, she subjected Leia to a long, assessing gaze before she nodded in acknowledgment. "That was a long time ago, princess."

"It's 'general,' now."

Qi'ra tilted her head in consideration. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I can't say that we had a whole lot of sympathy for you when the news about your parentage made the rounds. Many of us thought it served you right, getting a taste of your own medicine."

"I take it that I'm not very popular among the crime syndicates?"

"I believe you're most commonly referred to as a 'sanctimonious and persistent pain-in-the-ass.'"

"Thank you," Leia said. "I take that as a compliment. It means that for all my failures in the Senate, I did at least one thing right."

Qi'ra's expression turned sharper, but Leia thought she detected a glimmer of respect in the woman's eyes.

"Some people would think it's rather bold of you to boast about your hand in diminishing Crimson Dawn while you're at the mercy of its leader."

"Some people think I should hide my face in shame and leave the galaxy to the next criminal organization that comes along — one that is already taking over planets as we speak." She couldn't prevent her anger from leaking into her voice and neither could she curb the surge of satisfaction when all traces of aloofness vanished from Qi'ra's face.

Leia had long suspected that the First Order had used pirates and marauders to soften the ground before they made their presence known. From there, it was a small leap to wonder if the mercenaries who had attacked Qi'ra had also been in the Order's employ. The Star Destroyer in orbit certainly didn't do anything to contradict those speculations.

A moment of tense silence passed before Qi'ra inclined her head. "We should talk. I take it that's why you're here."

"It is indeed."

"I don't suppose you will tell me how you found me?"

"Through another mutual acquaintance. Equally disreputable, though about a thousand years older than Han."

For the first time since they'd met, Qi'ra smiled. It brightened her eyes and lifted her shoulders as some of the tension fell away from her. "It's a good thing Maz won't let the millennia slow her down. How is she?"

"Busy running her cantina on Takodana."

Qi'ra lifted a perfectly arched eyebrow. "You mean busy getting travelers drunk and collecting information for the Resistance."

Leia tried not to show her surprise. She hadn't thought that the Resistance had gained enough traction to make it onto the crime syndicates' radar, yet, but if they were known to Crimson Dawn, then the rest of the Shadow Collective knew about them as well. It added another variable to an already complicated equation in which Leia tried to add up allies and enemies in the hopes of arriving at a result weighed in her favor.

"Maz has always been an independent agent," she deflected. "I wouldn't dream of telling her what to do."

To her credit, Qi'ra didn't push the subject. "Let's get to my ship and off this planet. We can talk once we're in hyperspace."

* * *

Despite Greer's objections, Leia decided they should split up once they reached the city's main dockyard. Greer easily slipped into the hustle and bustle of the busy port, and, if everything went according to plan, she would meet up with them in a few hours.

With the Star Destroyer hovering above the city, they couldn't be too careful. It was known that the Mirrorbright belonged to her, and Leia didn't want to draw more attention than necessary. If she'd had more time to plan this meeting, she would have taken a different ship. Unfortunately, she'd only learned yesterday that the First Order had discovered the hidden coaxium mines which were Crimson Dawn's main source of income after the New Republic had cut off the crime syndicate's other revenue streams. With Crimson Dawn vulnerable as never before, there hadn't been any time to lose.

Qi'ra's yacht was a small personal shuttle that looked dingy and battered and about twenty years past its decommission date on the outside but was outfitted with all the bells and whistles credits could buy on the inside.

Sitting down, Leia let her gaze wander over the plush seating area behind the pilot's seat, took in the elegantly carved redwood that lined the walls and the polished wooden flooring under her heals. Warm, yellow light fixtures were inlaid among the ceiling fresco which depicted an intricate repeating motif that subtly recalled the stars of the Corellian banner.

"A touch of home?" Leia wondered out loud while Qi'ra slipped into the pilot's chair and started the engines.

"It came with the ship, but I like to think of it as a reminder of how far I got away from Corellia," Qi'ra said, her tone studiously neutral.

The ship shuddered softly as it lifted off the ground, and they both fell silent as they waited for clearance to leave the city. The tension that built as the seconds ticked by lingered long after their request was granted and they swooped beneath the Star Destroyer's belly into the soothing darkness of space.

"I don't suppose you can relate," Qi'ra took up the conversation after she'd engaged the autopilot.

It had been decades since Leia had watched the destruction of Alderaan, but she still felt that cold ache inside her chest whenever she thought about that day. Over time, she'd tried to accept that she would never be rid of it.

"Not relate, no. I cherish my memories of Alderaan because they're all I have left of my family. But I can understand the need to leave the past behind when one has grown beyond it as you have."

Qi'ra looked at the luxury that surrounded her with a mixture of pride and regret. "I wonder if you really believe that or if you want to flatter me. When I took over Crimson Dawn I thought I'd finally left Corellia behind. I tried to reinvent myself and not let my years as a scumrat define me, but it didn't work. I had to fight, lie, and steal for everything from food to status my entire life. Even when Crimson Dawn was at its most powerful, I couldn't rest because I knew someone would come along to try and take it away from me. And you did," she said with a cutting look. "Thanks to your influence in the Senate, Crimson Dawn is a shadow of what it used to be."

Leia didn't bother to point out that Crimson Dawn was a criminal organization. She knew any argument as to its legality would fall on deaf ears, and she needed Qi'ra to listen to her. "You're still out here, fighting," she observed.

"I will always fight," Qi'ra snapped and within the blink of an eye, Leia felt the cool tip of a blade pressed against the underside of her chin.

She was impressed. She couldn't think of many people who could catch her off-guard, and Qi'ra had moved so fast that she had barely seen her hand move.

"You're injured," Leia said mildly as if having her life threatened was barely worth her notice. And in a way, it wasn't. Considering how high the stakes were with the First Order bold enough to make their presence known by parking a Star Destroyer on top of a Core planet, Leia felt that her own life was insignificant compared to the damage that another prolonged war would heap on the galaxy.

She tried not to think about Ben. There was no comparison to the damage that the First Order had already done to her family. It was absolute.

She forced herself to focus on Qi'ra, instead, and on the mission she had to accomplish. Keeping her mind on the things she _could_ do helped her stay sane. She had to let go of the things that were out of her reach, even if it broke her heart.

To someone who had spent most of her life among politicians, trying to anticipate moves and then devise counter moves, Leia felt sure that Qi'ra had no desire to kill her, but rather intended to make a point. Leia couldn't begrudge her the need to assert herself. With Crimson Dawn being on the cusp of annihilation, Qi'ra must feel like a cornered animal. And Leia knew that any provocation would only make her more dangerous.

 _Trust needs to be earned_ , she reminded herself.

Even though they'd never met before, the two of them had been enemies from afar for nearly two decades. Leia had known that this conversation wouldn't be easy. She suspected that over the past weeks, Qi'ra had come to a similar conclusion as she had, that each of them had something to offer that the other one wanted, but their ideologies were too different to allow for easy negotiations. They were two chess players trying to arrive at a draw without letting the other one know that they weren't actually trying to win.

The burn on Qi'ra's wrist stood out as an angry, red well against her fair skin. It was not the only scar that marked her arm, evidence that her vow to keep fighting was not an empty one.

"Do you have any bacta?" Leia asked in an attempt to redirect the conversation. While she had gained a better understanding of what drove Qi'ra, she wasn't about to apologize for doing her job. "If not, you are welcome to use some of mine."

Moving carefully, she pulled a small bottle of the blue gel out of her jacket.

Qi'ra seemed grimly amused by the gesture and let the blade drop to her side. "Did you anticipate trouble when you came here or do you always carry medical supplies on you?"

The truth was that Greer kept trying to dissuade her from putting herself in danger, and carrying medical supplies, an emergency beacon, and a second weapon were the only concessions Leia had made to alleviate her concerns. She definitely wasn't going hide in an underground bunker while other people put their lives on the line, but Qi'ra didn't need to know that.

"It never hurts to be prepared," she said instead.

Qi'ra sat down on the chaise lounge next to Leia's chair and presented her hand.

Leia paused when she realized that she hadn't actually seen Qi'ra return the blade to wherever she was hiding it on her person and felt a surge of reluctant admiration.

Unstoppering the bottle, Leia gently massaged a few drops of the gel onto the burn. Qi'ra watched her with a steady gaze that for all of Leia's familiarity with being under scrutiny made her pulse speed up. There was something to Qi'ra's poise that struck her as equal parts appealing as it was unnerving.

"A credit for your thoughts?" Leia finally said when she could no longer bear the silence.

A slow smile spread across Qi'ra's face and Leia felt sure that she marked down a point in her favor on the score sheet they both kept in their head.

"I am trying to figure you out."

"I'm not a very complicated riddle," Leia said dismissively.

"I disagree. On the surface, you're a hero of the rebellion and were a leader of the populists among the Senate. And yet, you are also Darth Vader's daughter, and, if certain rumors are to be believed, you've been hiding the fact that your twin brother is not the only one who has command over the Force. This all makes you a very engaging puzzle, indeed."

Leia froze with her fingertips poised above the Crimson Dawn tattoo on Qi'ra's wrist. The only people who knew that she had completed her Jedi training before choosing to fully commit to her political career were Luke and Han. Not even Ben knew about it. There was no reason Qi'ra should. Was she merely speculating? Was this the reason she had threatened her with a blade? To see how she'd react? To confirm the rumors?

"It would serve the centrists well to be more concerned with the rising influence of the First Order than they are with spreading unfounded rumors about a former member of the Senate," she grumbled.

"Ah, but the former would require them to actually be useful, while the latter is part of what they do best — socialize, argue, and gossip, and then argue some more when nothing productive gets done."

It rankled Leia that Qi'ra's assessment of the Senate mirrored her own frustration with it. How many arguments and speeches had it cost her before the Senate had agreed to send the Sector Rangers after Crimson Dawn? She couldn't remember. Every meeting had blurred into the next until her most prominent memories of that time where of the headaches with which they left her as well as an exhaustion of the spirit that went deeper than the sore muscles and tiredness that came when the sun set on a battlefield.

The more time she spent away from the Senate, the more often she caught herself thinking that being forced to step down had been the best thing that had happened to her. She'd felt invigorated in the weeks following her departure from Hosnian Prime. Building the Resistance, having a clear-cut purpose that wasn't encumbered by the necessity for taking a vote for every decision made had felt as if she'd thrown off a pair of heavy shackles. For the first time in years, she'd slept soundly, knowing that she was doing what she'd always done best — act instead of talk.

Until the day that everything had changed — when she'd woken in the small hours of the night standing in the middle of her bedroom, her clothes soaked with sweat, her heart thundering in her throat, her body poised to fight an enemy that hadn't been there.

She'd known something terrible had happened, but her calls had remained unanswered until morning. She'd been half-way to Luke's training temple by the time her brother's grief-stricken expression had filled her holoscreen and even before he'd started to speak, she'd known that her life would never be the same again.

"No argument?" Qi'ra asked, startling Leia from her thoughts. "For more than two decades, you poured your entire life into the Senate and now you won't even defend it?" She laughed, but there was no humor in it. "The truth comes with a bitter taste, doesn't it? How many sacrifices did you make in those twenty years? How many concessions that you thought were worth the trade-off? How many lives taken? How many reputations ruined?"

Leia straightened in her chair and, realizing that she was still holding Qi'ra's hand between her own, dropped it abruptly. "I don't know how you imagine that the Senate works, but we don't assassinate each other to get ahead," she snapped.

Privately, she had to concede that the centrists showing no hesitation to ruin her reputation by revealing her parentage had not been the first time a scandal had shaken the Senate, but Qi'ra had a point — her own musing about whether or not she had wasted half of her life believing that the centrists and populists could find common ground left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"No, I don't believe that _you_ would," Qi'ra said. "You're far too morally upstanding for that."

"And from your tone, I take it that you think me weaker for it."

"Let's just say that I never had the luxury of being morally upstanding."

"Would you like to change that?"

An uncertain silence followed their rapid-fire exchange.

"What do you mean by that?" Qi'ra asked, her voice dangerously soft. Leia had the sudden impression of a predator getting ready to pounce.

Leia didn't allow herself to be deterred. If Qi'ra wanted a fight before they agreed on anything then she was ready for it. This was why she'd come here, after all.

"The First Order took over Crimson Dawn's coaxium mines three days ago. It was the last major venture that allowed you to turn a profit."

Qi'ra sat back in her chaise lounge. "You are surprisingly well informed."

Leia could hear in her voice how much the admission galled her.

"We have a common enemy," she continued. "I know that you were trying to unite the Shadow Collective against the Order. Judging by the fact that they sent mercenaries after you, I assume that you failed."

Qi'ra lowered her lashes and rearranged the folds of her cloak. "You're fishing in the dark, princess. The idea of honor existing among thieves may sound ridiculous to you, but we don't sell each other out to the First Order."

"Everyone has a price. Isn't that the assumption under which organizations like Crimson Dawn operate?"

A muscle in Qi'ra's face twitched. "Who would be so foolish?" she asked with a demure casualness that had to be fake. This woman had threatened her with a dagger only minutes ago. "We may not have the influence we had ten years ago, but there is more to Crimson Dawn than even you know. The Collective knows that turning against me will have consequences."

Leia hesitated. Should she reveal all she knew, or hold back in case she needed the information later? Negotiations were an intricate dance, and the danger that one wrong move would have her stepping on Qi'ra's toes was too great.

"But you don't deny that the First Order has worked with members of the Collective before?" she asked instead.

Qi'ra took her time answering and Leia had the distinct impression that she, too, was trying to figure out her next move.

"They approached me a while ago with an... offer, if you can call it that. They wanted an assurance of exclusivity for the purchase of the coaxium as well as a hefty discount for the shippments. I'm sure you can guess what they offered in return."

"You turned them down?"

"I underestimated them," she said grimly. "It's not a mistake I will make again."

Leia smiled when she saw the determination with which Qi'ra lifted her chin. She looked regal at that moment, much more a princess than Leia had in years.

"I believe you," she said without irony. "And I would like to help you even the score."

"How?"

"Are there still people you can trust within the Collective?"

"Perhaps," she said and Leia knew from her vague response that she wouldn't get any names out of her, but that was just as well.

_Trust needs to earned._

"Could they help you get back into the Order's good graces?"

The question startled a laugh out of her. "You want me to spy for you? You can't be serious. What makes you think I would put my life in danger for you? You of all people?"

"Because you're a survivor," Leia said calmly. "And you're also smart enough to know that if the First Order grows more powerful you will run out of places to hide. And because I think that you're tired of living in the shadows."

Qi'ra's eyebrows shot up. "Is that so?"

"You said it yourself. You've been fighting for everything you ever got. I can't promise you that you will never have to fight for what's yours again, but if you help me defeat the First Order, I can offer that you will no longer have a target on your back. All charges will be dropped. You will have a chance to start fresh, and I will personally help you do it."

Qi'ra's expression became shuttered and Leia curbed the urge to wince. She understood pride and the need to be self-sufficient. Qi'ra obviously didn't appreciate the suggestion that she might need Leia's help considering that Leia had worked so hard against her in the past.

"I already told you that there is more to Crimson Dawn than you know. I have all the help that I need," Qi'ra said with a cool smile that hid too many secrets.

Leia steeled herself. She had no choice but to put her last card on the table or this negotiation would slip away from her. Leaning in, she held Qi'ra's gaze, making sure that she had her attention.

"Maul cannot stand against both Snoke and the First Order," she said slowly, clearly. "You must know that."

She felt no satisfaction as she watched Qi'ra's face drain of color. It had taken years before Leia's informants had found out that Qi'ra was only the public face of Crimson Dawn and that a former Sith Lord held her strings. For all her claims of losing what belonged to her, she'd never truly owned anything. But as the figurehead of the syndicate, she had put her life on the line in exchange for the wealth and security that Maul had offered her.

A security that had been deceptive.

Leia felt a stab of guilt knowing that she was asking Qi'ra to do essentially the same thing as Maul had. Sometimes she couldn't help but think that they were all pawns on some else's chessboard.

"Maul is a threat to the First Order. Snoke won't allow someone who is trained in the Force to exist alongside him if he cannot control him," she pressed on.

"No," Qi'ra said, in a voice that was void of all emotion. "He's already chosen your son to be his puppet."

Leia heard the words, but it took her brain a startled second before she could make sense of them.

When she finally did, she felt as if someone had pulled the chair out from under her. Her stomach lurched, and a pressure seized her chest. For a moment, she thought she was going to pass out. There was no air to breathe.

Knowing it had been horrible in its own right, but hearing it spoken out loud... The reality of losing Ben crashed down on her like an ocean wave.

She'd been a fool. She _was_ a fool. Ackbar had urged her not to go on this mission. He'd told her that she needed time to deal with her grief, but she hadn't been able to sit still. She'd been too afraid to be alone with her thoughts and her guilt.

She'd thought that she could control her emotions. After all, wasn't that what she'd done for years and years in the Senate? Hiding her frustration? Telling herself that it would take time to pull the factions together, but that she would get there in the end? That it would make all the sacrifices worth it? The years missed flying around the galaxy with Han? The time she couldn't spend with Ben?

But it was too late now. Ben was gone. He'd turned from the light, and she hadn't been there to prevent it. Even worse, she'd sent him away. And so what if her intentions had been good? If she thought that Luke would get through to him and teach him the patience and the control that he lacked? And Han had left, because that's what he always did when things got difficult and there wasn't an enemy within reach that he could fight. He'd left because he blamed her, she was sure of it. He'd been opposed to Ben leaving and training in the Force. If she had listened to him.. if she had listened to Ben...

"Here. Drink this."

Leia numbly closed her trembling fingers around the glass Qi'ra pressed into her hand. She inhaled shakily and raised it to her lips. The alcohol burned down her throat and she coughed before she recognized the rich, sweet flavor that lingered on her tongue.

"Ruge Liqueur?" she asked when she regained her voice. The Alderaanian beverage had been a favorite of her father's - her real father's.

Qi'ra's smile was uncharacteristically gentle when she sat down beside her. "Han asked me last year whether or not I could procure a bottle. For your anniversary."

"Oh." To her embarrassment, Leia felt tears well in her eyes. "Was he the one who told you about Ben?"

Qi'ra shook her head. "No. I haven't heard from him in months." Her lips parted as if she wanted to say more, but apparently, she thought better of it and took a sip from her own glass instead. "It was another one of those disreputable acquaintances who told me."

"Well, this is rather awkward," Leia admitted drily. She still felt shaken, and she couldn't shake the persistent ache in her heart, but at least she didn't feel as if she was going to suffocate anymore. These days, that almost felt like an accomplishment.

"You knowing about Maul took me by surprise. I— I don't react well to being cornered."

As apologies went, it wasn't much, but then again, Leia didn't think she deserved more. They weren't friends. They weren't even allies. They were just two people who needed something from the other but didn't want to compromise more than they absolutely had to.

Leia closed her eyes and wrestled the turmoil inside her back into a cage. She wouldn't be able to lock it away for long, but she wasn't ready to face it, yet, either.

"If I do decide to break away from Maul, what exactly would you offer aside from wiping my slate clean?" Qi'ra asked hesitantly.

Leia rubbed a hand across her cheek. She would have loved to blame her sudden exhaustion on the alcohol but knew that it had little to do with it.

"Why don't you start by telling me what you want, and I will tell you honestly whether or not it is feasible?"

"I want the coaxium mines back."

"You mean after the First Order is defeated?"

"Well, if the opportunity presents itself to do it sooner, I would gladly take over then, but I understand that your resources are too limited to launch an open assault. So, yes. After the First Order is defeated, will do."

Leia couldn't fault Qi'ra's thinking. Starship fuel was always in demand. Trading coaxium would set Qi'ra up comfortably, giving her a steady income and the means to branch out should she want to. If Leia was any judge of character, there would be no limit to Qi'ra's entrepreneurial spirit, and, if she was honest with herself, she was looking forward to seeing what Qi'ra could do when she was free to make her own decisions.

 _One step at a time_ , she cautioned herself.

Their struggle against the First Order had barely begun, and who knew how the pieces would shift on the board as time passed.

"You would have to run them as a legitimate business."

Qi'ra chuckled. "I will have little choice, seeing as their location is no longer a secret."

"Alright. What else?" she asked before taking another sip of her drink.

"A seat at the table." Turning towards Leia, Qi'ra's expression brooked no argument. "I won't work _for_ you, general, but I might be persuaded to work _with_ you. I've had a lifetime of shouldering the risk while others reaped most of the rewards, and it ended with me walking into a trap set by people I thought of as allies. I've had enough of that. I won't put myself on the front lines this time, but I can still be useful to the Resistance."

"All those disreputable sources?" Leia guessed.

"I can help you recruit and train the spies you need. I know the syndicates like the back of my hand. I can tell you where they're vulnerable and where to place agents so they will gain access to First Order bases and shipyards."

Leia's mind raced as she considered Qi'ra's demands. It wouldn't be easy to convince Ackbar and her other allies to accept Qi'ra as an equal, but the alternative was no option at all. The Resistance needed an intelligence branch that consisted of more than Leia relying on the information given to her by old friends. Letting someone with Qi'ra's experience and connections — recent circumstances notwithstanding — walk away would hurt the Resistance in the long run.

Leia drained her glass and took a moment to savor the liqueur's taste. As if on cue, Qi'ra's ship dropped out of hyperspace, and Leia could see the sleek lines of the Mirrorbright hovering ahead at their rendezvous point.

 _That's about the only thing that went according to plan today_ , she thought with no small amount of gallows humor.

"I will have to speak to my people," she said before she extended her hand. "General." She offered the title as a promise for the future.

Qi'ra looked at her with obvious surprise. Her eyes narrowed for a moment in distrust, but Leia had no intention to deceive her. Ackbar would trust her judgment on this as he had done many times before. She met Qi'ra's assessing gaze openly until the woman inclined her head.

"General," she said in acknowledgment.

Leia retrieved a small data chip from her jacket. "This is an encryption key for an encoded frequency that will allow us to stay in touch."

Qi'ra accepted the chip and offered her the bottle of Alderaan Ruge Liqueur in trade. "You should have this. It was meant for you anyway."

Her throat too tight for speeches, Leia forced out a quiet word of thanks. Qi'ra placed her palm over the back of Leia's hand as she took the bottle and squeezed it gently. Her expression was kind, and Leia felt comforted by the small gesture.

"Don't be a stranger, princess."

Leia managed a small smile. "I won't be."


End file.
